politics & history The 13 Greatest Geraldo Rivera FAILs

These are moments when the longtime news anchor, talk show host and journalist made news rather than simply reporting it. Perhaps some of these fails come from his stint as a "medical" marijuana tester in 1974, he caught that fail on video too. From the time Geraldo made controversial comments about the Trayvon Martin killing to the time when he claimed to have secret buried treasure belonging to Al Capone to the time when he called Casey Anthony a slut, Geraldo Rivera has never been a stranger to controversy and these FAILs show only a handful of his gaffes from over four decades of being on the air.

After getting his start on local news in the 1970s, Geraldo Rivera went from an investigative journalist from Brooklyn, New York, to someone known more for his sensationalist tactics to drive ratings. He went from investigating the cause of death of legendary singer Elvis Presley to leading the country on a highly publicized prime time special to reveal the contents of a vault once owned by Al Capone. Viewers watched for hours as Geraldo built up the suspense for the big reveal. Viewers were also disappointed when the vault didn't reveal anything important like dead bodies or secrets, but rather empty bottles and some dirt.

That ratings stunt was only a sneak peek at what was yet to come during his self-titled talk show "Geraldo" hit the airwaves in the late 1980s. Whether it was simply to score viewers or out of a "what's the worst that could happen?" mentality, Geraldo continued to find himself in unfortunate situations on the show, including in 1987 when a huge brawl broke out between extremists on his show.

Incredible as it may sound, even after all the sensationalism and Jerry Springer-style antics, Geraldo Rivera continued to be perceived as a top-notch journalist and his career continued. Just because he moved on to more serious news however didn't keep him out of trouble. In fact, as a Fox News correspondent, he found himself under fire again and again including when reporting from New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, when reporting from the front lines as an Iraq War correspondent and when discussing the murder cases involving Casey Anthony, who he called a "slut," and Treyvon Matrin, whose murder he blamed on the child's hooded sweatshirt.

Primed to celebrate his 70th birthday in 2013, Geraldo Rivera has made a career of turning heads with his wacky talk shows, journalistic gaffes and off-color comments about everything from Satanism to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.

1

Geraldo Rivera Says Trayvon Martin Was Murdered Because He Was Wearing a Hoodie In February 2012, while (allegedly) walking around his suburban Florida gated community (allegedly) holding an Arizona Iced Tea and a bag of Skittles, unarmed black 17 year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by (allegedly) ...

2

Geraldo Rivera Opens Al Capone's Vaults on Live TV, Finds Dirt Oh, how I wish I could remember this first-hand! But alas, in those days, I was a Sally Jessy man... The story goes: For a few years leading up to his arrest, Al Capone, the legendary gangster (Tommy guns, not Tommy Hilfiger), ...

3

Geraldo Rivera Tells Fox News Viewers: Obama Is Dead Remember the 2008 Presidential Election and the riveting race leading up to it? Remember how funny and clever it was every time some pundit, political commentator, or dirty lunatic in line at Rite Aid called the Democratic ...

4

Geraldo Rivera Endangers American Troops, Compromises Iraqi Mission This is a good one. In 2003, the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army - the "Screaming Eagles" - was escorting war correspondent Geraldo Rivera in Iraq when he almost got them all killed. During his broadcast, he ...

5

Geraldo Rivera Stops a Rescue Team from Saving a Katrina Victim So He Can Do It Himself Did you know that Geraldo Rivera once saved a woman's life? It's true! While on the phone with Fox News, he rescued an elderly woman and her dog who were stranded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. He was a hero!

6

Geraldo Rivera Calls Casey Anthony a Slut Some time during Summer 2008, doe-eyed Caucasian American toddler Caylee Anthony was murdered in Orlando, FL. Three years later, her mother Casey - then 25 - was on trial for her murder. Prosecution focused on her ...

7

Geraldo Rivera Says Prayer at Afghanistan Site Where Nothing Happened In 2001, Geraldo Rivera wandered into a fog of war so thick that he ended up 300 miles away from where he claimed to be. Working as a war correspondent in Afghanistan, he reported that was at the site where an incident of ...

8

Geraldo Rivera Curses at Cameraman Filming Hurricane Katrina Victim Look, Hurricane Katrina was rough for everyone, and journalists were no exception. As the flood waters rose, so did Geraldo's frustration when his cameraman couldn't see a victim clinging to part of a building. During a live ...

9

Geraldo Rivera Gets Heckled Out of Occupy Wall Street The young whippersnappers skipping work and showers to Occupy Wall Street were never exactly in Geraldo Rivera's target demographic. Still, he and his Fox News news crew looked uncomfortable if not embarrassed in October 2011 ...

10

Geraldo Rivera Gets Nose Broken by White Supremacist on His Own Show OK, I've got one. Stop me if you've heard it: What do white supremacists, black activists, anti-racist skinheads, and Jews have in common? Answer: Geraldo On Nov. 3, 1988, Rivera invited this motley crüe on stage for ...

11

Geraldo Rivera Tells America That Their Towns Are Overrun with Satanists Estimates are that there are over 1 million Satanists in this country. ... The majority of them are linked in a highly organized, very secretive network. From small towns to large cities, they have attracted police and FBI ...

12

Geraldo Rivera Wipes Out on Hurricane Ike Seawall Nothing like a good old-fashioned pratfall. In 2008, Geraldo Rivera found his sea legs in Galveston, TX, while filming a segment about evacuations during Hurricane Ike. He could be seen on the seawall talking to firefighters ...

13

Geraldo Rivera Compares Rolling Stone Journalist to Al Qaeda Terrorists You may call Geraldo Rivera a lot of things - a hack, a d-bag, an irrelevant mustachioed joke of a journalist who kind of looks like The Burger King - but one thing you may not call him is "black," particularly if you ...

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